Progress on talks to secure funding for Rotorua Museum

16 May
2019Progress on talks to secure Central Government
funding for Rotorua Museum

Rotorua Mayor Steve Chadwick
says discussions with senior ministers to secure Central
Government funding for the strengthening and restoration of
the city’s iconic museum are progressing well.

“I am
working closely with senior ministers and am heartened by
the discussions we’ve had to date to secure Government
funding for our museum,” the mayor says.

“Government
MPs will also need to support us as we work through what
level of support the Government can provide.”

Mayor
Chadwick confirmed the progress being made in talks with
senior government ministers today [Thursday 16 May], during
a briefing at the TRENZ 2019 event which has been hosted in
Rotorua this week.

“Rotorua Museum is a New Zealand icon
and we have been pushing for Government assistance since we
were forced to close it in late 2016. It is Rotorua’s
priority. Central Government, of course, is very busy
dealing with many priorities but we are fighting for our
museum and my commitment is that we will get it
done.”

The Bath House was the New Zealand Government’s
first major investment in the tourism industry, seen as a
way to make Rotorua a world famous spa
destination.

“Rotorua continues to play a major role in
tourism in New Zealand and our museum is a big part of
that,” Mayor Chadwick says. “The museum means a lot to
our community and getting it re-opened remains a top
priority for myself and this council. Partnerships have been
key to what Council has achieved in recent years and to the
progress Rotorua has been making and that’s how we will
also get this done.”

Rotorua Lakes Council was forced to
close the museum in November 2016 after damage was
discovered in the historic Bath House portion of the
building following the Kaikoura earthquake. The building was
found to be below new building standards and is considered
earthquake prone and a risk to public safety.

It is
estimated it will cost $45 to $50 million to restore and
strengthen the building and Council has committed $15
million in its 2018-28 Long-term Plan towards seismic
strengthening, with the balance of funds to be sourced
externally. Last December Rotorua Trust announced it would
support the project with a grant of $10 million and the
Rotorua Museum Centennial Trust, which raised funds to
extend the building in 2011, has committed to assisting with
fundraising if needed. Talks with Central Government
officials and Ministers have been ongoing.

“It is a
complicated process getting the level of funding we require
but I am working with senior ministers and the aim is to get
the funding lined up so that we can start work on the
building later this year, as planned.” Mayor Chadwick
says.

Design work for the project is nearing completion
and “enabling works” (work that needs to be done to
prepare the site for construction) could start as early as
July this year.

“I have been just as impatient to see
work starting on our museum’s restoration as the rest of
the community,” Mayor Chadwick says. “However, we need
to understand that the assessments, planning and design work
that needed to be done before any work can start have been
particularly complex – we are talking about a historic
building with Heritage 1 status and every step towards
re-opening our beloved museum needs to be taken with great
care and planning.

“All of that necessary groundwork,
which started immediately after the museum was closed, takes
time. Most of it has now been done and we will be ready to
go once we have finalised the level of support from Central
Government.”

About the Bath House

The
Bath House opened in 1908 and is the only surviving building
from the first 45 years of Rotorua as a spa
destination.

Responsibility for Rotorua, both as a spa
destination and administration of the then small town, was
taken over by the Department of Tourist and Health Resorts
in 1901.

By late 1902 plans had been drawn up for a grand
new bath house (now home to Rotorua Museum) although initial
plans had to be scaled back as funding ran out.

Prime
Minister Sir Joseph Ward felt more overseas tourists could
be attracted if the country’s health resorts were
promoted. He placed the administration of Rotorua, then a
small settlement of just 2,000 people, in the hands of the
newly created Department of Tourist and Health Resorts, and
in 1907 that department assumed complete control of the
town.

By 1922 when the Government relinquished control and
the town became a borough, Rotorua had grown into an
important tourist town.

In 1963 the Rotorua City Council
assumed control of the Bath House and by 1966 the Health
Department fully vacated the building.

Rotorua Museum
opened in the south wing of the Bath House in 1969 and
Rotorua Art Gallery opened in the north wing in 1977. Two
licensed restaurants and a night-club also occupied areas of
the building until 1990.

In 2011 a major extension
completed the building to the original 1902 plans.

Today
the building holds a Category 1 listing under the Historic
Places Act.

Resource consent was issued in
March 2019 following extensive structural and geotechnical
assessment and design work. This was a prerequisite for some
of the potential funding opportunities being
pursued.

Asbestos found in the museum roof space and
ground is not considered substantial and will be removed by
experts once work on the building begins.

The project is
now well into the “developed design” phase with
architects, engineers and Heritage New Zealand working
through design elements and procurement underway for
contractors.

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